IMPHAL, June 6: Former Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh has firmly defended his administration’s anti-poppy eradication campaign in response to growing concerns over deforestation, claiming that satellite imagery substantiates the state’s environmental claims.
In a social media post on June 6, Singh stated, “Now let’s be serious—even national media has confirmed the deforestation through satellite imagery. Many people didn’t believe the State Government’s claims. But the facts speak for themselves.”
Singh emphasized that from 2017 to 2025, the Manipur government destroyed more than 18,000 hectares of illegal poppy plantations as part of its anti-drug strategy. He described the campaign as a dual effort to combat drug trafficking and prevent further environmental degradation in the state’s ecologically sensitive hill regions.
The former CM’s comments come in the wake of a comprehensive satellite-based analysis by Suhora Technologies, an Earth observation firm, which highlighted alarming rates of deforestation in Northeast India.
According to Suhora’s study and data from Global Forest Watch, Manipur alone lost approximately 17,800 hectares of natural forest in 2024, resulting in the release of nearly 9.11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Between 2021 and 2025, the state lost around 21,100 hectares of forest, with only 13 hectares showing signs of regrowth, the analysis found. The report attributes the deforestation to a combination of illegal logging, traditional shifting cultivation, firewood harvesting, infrastructure development, and the spread of illegal poppy farming in remote regions.
Suhora’s CEO, Krishanu Acharya, highlighted the role of satellite technology in providing near-real-time environmental monitoring. He acknowledged that while the deforestation figures are worrying, the capacity to detect and analyze such changes using high-resolution imagery allows for quicker interventions and long-term forest management strategies.
In addition to deforestation, Suhora’s data also tracked a significant forest fire in Arunachal Pradesh’s Nadipar region in April 2025, demonstrating the utility of satellite imagery in identifying and responding to natural disasters. The fire affected over 1.09 square kilometres, with portions still burning days after detection.
